Bush is a LIAR

Evidence that White Republican "Christians" mean more to Bush than Poor Black Democrats. FEMA acting quickly in ADVANCE of Ophelia as opposed to doing NOTHING about Katrina


Area Search-And-Rescue Teams On Ophelia Watch

Ophelia Could Bring Rain To D.C. Area

POSTED: 6:51 am EDT September 13, 2005
UPDATED: 3:29 pm EDT September 13, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Urban search-and-rescue teams from Montgomery County, Md., and Fairfax County, Va., are heading to Virginia Beach to wait for Tropical Storm Ophelia.
Both teams planned to leave Tuesday afternoon.
It is the second mission for the Montgomery County team in a matter of weeks. Some members spent about a week in Mississippi helping out after Hurricane Katrina, an effort that included the rescue of three survivors.
Montgomery fire spokesman Pete Piringer said some of the same people who went to Mississippi might be among the 35 members going to Virginia Beach, though it's unclear. He pointed out that there are a lot of team members.
On Monday, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner declared a state of emergency in preparation for potential damage from the tropical storm.
Up to 100 Virginia Army National Guard troops were ordered to active duty to man armories in Norfolk and in Onancock on the Eastern Shore. The soldiers from Company C, 276th Engineering Battalion at West Point are scheduled to arrive at the armories by Wednesday afternoon. They'll have equipment necessary to clear debris, including loaders, dump trucks and chain saws.
Plans to fly two dozen fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to Grissom Air Reserve Base in northern Indiana have been put on hold. The F-15 Eagles were to fly to Indiana today to avoid Tropical Storm Ophelia. A Grissom spokesman said the F-15 Eagles planes will remain in Virginia for now because of a line of thunderstorms that was forecast to move into Indiana later Tuesday.
If Tropical Storm Ophelia continues along its current track, Storm Center4 meteorologist Tom Kierein said it could bring some tropical showers to the Washington region late Wednesday afternoon.
Kierein said the storm is currently sitting about 50 miles off the coast of South Carolina with sustained winds of 70 mph and gusts up to 86 mph.
Ophelia is also showing signs of increasing as it continues to track off to the north, Kierein reported.
Kierein said Ophelia could become a weak hurricane sometime Tuesday evening.
Slideshow: Tracking The Storm
Latest Forecast
About midday Wednesday, Ophelia could track near Wilmington, N.C., and then graze the Outer Banks by Wednesday evening before heading out into the open Atlantic Ocean.
As a precaution, federal officials said they have pre-positioned trailers of water, ice and dozens of ready-to-eat meals in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Officials are also urging residents to make preparations themselves, just in case the storm brings the kind of flooding rains that left a low-lying section of Richmond under 10 feet of water from Tropical Storm Gaston last year.